


Fate - Antithetical Strife: Autoelegy

by Allen ux Ultor (The_Servant_of_Evil)



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night (Visual Novel), Fate/stay night - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Holy Grail War (Fate), SYOC, Under my Psuedonym, gonna get crazy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-01-24 08:46:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18567928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Servant_of_Evil/pseuds/Allen%20ux%20Ultor
Summary: "Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain." A poem for the dead. The pain of Absolute Reverse. Not all opposites attract. "Yet, my flame never ends."You can pull the Grail war out of Fuyuki, but you can't pull the Emiya out of the Grail War.A telling of the sixth war, and all the suffering it entails. (SYOC Open)





	1. Prologue

A calloused hand ran through silver hair as a man stood silently in the middle of basement lit only with candles. A strange sight, considering the eponymous man’s preference for regular light. Looking down upon the ground, he observed the circle drawn into the ground. Carefully recreated from the one in his old house, and double checked by his partner and master, he was confident that it was ready. 

* * *

_ “Rin, we have a problem,” he said, entering their apartment. When he saw her sitting down on the couch, turning her head to look at him, he lifted a hand, showing her the command seals etched into his skin. _

_ She sighed at that. “So they finished it earlier than I thought, huh?” _

_ He gave her an incredulous look at that. “Rin, what do you mean?” _

_ She closed her eyes, taking one of her various poses. “Well, the Wizard Marshall Zelretch had taken an interest in purifying the Greater Grail of the taint within, which I allowed him to do, given his own hand in helping make the cursed thing. However, I requested that if they wanted to restart it, to get that thing out of Fuyuki. Not only would the ley lines be useless thanks to your father, but in the case they failed, I wanted that thing as far away as possible from home.” _

_ He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re okay with someone trying to restart the war? After what we went through?” _

_ “What we went through won’t happen again,” she assured him. “Especially since I ensured that they’re no longer using a Homunculus for the Lesser Grail. No one is going to have to suffer like Illya would’ve. There’s no living Heroic Spirits left from the wars prior. Without the taint, only True Heroic Spirits should be reasonably summoned, so no Bluebeards or Medeas, no Counter Guardians, nothing like that.” _

_ “Unless somebody screws with the system again,” he pointed out. _

_ “Relax, The Second was determined to reset the system. He’d leave well enough alone…”  _

_ The silence was palpable after that as they both digested what she had just said. And it only took her a moment to realize the error of her thoughts. “Oh god, He’s going to make it worse, isn’t he?” _

_ “Well, this  _ is _ Zelretch we’re talking about,” he reminded her. _

_ She groaned. “Look, just… come back to me? I can’t go with you, too many of my experiments are at a sensitive point right now…” _

_ “Not gonna try and force me to quit the war?”, he asked, giving her a skeptical eyebrow. _

_ She scoffed at that. “Shirou, I tried that before, and the stupid false priest managed to convince you once before. You’re still the same kid from before, wanting to save everyone you can. The only difference is now you’re stronger than you were during the war.” _

_ He smiled. “And I’ve got a few new tricks up my sleeve…” _

_ Fuyuki’s Second Owner rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, despite the amount of pain it caused you to get those tricks… Look, I can’t stop you from going. You’re a hard headed idiot with your own Independent Action skill, I swear. You’d just ignore whatever I did because you wanna go insure that you can limit the number of casualties. Just, be careful okay? There’s no Avalon to save you unless you summon Saber again, you’ll probably be dealing with worse masters with less morals than Shinji, and if you use the Unlimited Blade Works and the Association catches wind of your Reality Marble, you  _ will _ get slapped with a sealing designation and I won’t be able to save you from that.” _

_ “I don’t need to use it for every fight,” he reminded her. “I’ve gotten a lot better at what I do.” _

_ “Yeah, yeah, I know…” she sighed, finally giving in and showing a small smile. “Go be a damn hero, okay?” _

* * *

“Trace on.” Warming up his Magic Circuits, he took a look at the seals upon his right hand. The seals held the same shape as the ones so long ago, he realized. But in the end, that didn’t matter. He slowly filled the summoning circle with his mana. Without even realizing, a symbol shone from under his clothes upon his back.

“Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let blue be the colour I pay tribute to. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. I hereby declare. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer! An oath shall be sworn here! I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell! From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, Come forth from the ring of restraints, Protector of the Holy Balance!”

The symbol upon his back glowed brighter for a moment, causing the summoner pain, before it faded away, as did the glow of the circle before him. Inside the circle knelt a man, a few centimeters shorter than the summoner stood, with spiked hair colored black in opposition to his master’s silver. Where the master stood wearing black armor, the servant wore regular black clothes, including a button up shirt and dress slacks. Where the master was without sleeves, the servant wore a trench coat. The master in his combat boots looked stunned to see the servant in dress shoes. “You’re…”

“I am… Emiya Kiritsugu, the Magus Killer,” his servant said, eyes closed. “I ask of you, are you my master?”

“...I am,” he said. “...father.”

That sent the Killer’s eyes shooting open as he stood, having to look up to his son. “...Shirou?”

He smiled. “Yeah… it’s good to see you.”

* * *

 

The two of them were soon sitting out on the roof, overlooking a city they were in. “So… been a while since I was in America…”, Kiritsugu admitted. 

Shirou nodded. “Welcome to D.C. Where the politicians make Magi look humane and the monuments cover up the class disparity on the outer reaches of the city.” He sighed. “It’s killing me that I can’t really help them…”

Kiritsugu looked over to him. “Oh?”

He nodded. “Yeah… guess you could say I want to be their hero…”, he admitted, giving a strange sort of smile.

Kiritsugu sighed at that. “I see… A hero, huh?”

“Yeah… like you were, that day you found me.” Shirou raised a hand to cut off any reply. “Dad… when you found me in the fires, I was empty. My only thought was… I wanted to be as happy as you looked, when you saved me from that Hell. I held onto that dream for years now, being a hero… a decade ago I had it put to the test in the fifth war. Rin… the Tohsaka representative, managed to summon… well, someone who had held our dream and regretted it, even though he reached it. I was forced to face the pinnacle of my ideals… And I’ve accepted that even if I’m a hypocrite… even if I put others before myself,  _ for _ myself… That doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. There’s still something beautiful about trying to become a hero of justice.”

Kiritsugu couldn’t help but smile at that. “...you’ve really grown up, you know that?”, he asked softly. 

He drew a chuckle from Shirou with that line. “Yeah, well that tends to happen when you’re forced into a grail war…” he admitted.

“Shirou… during your grail war… did you ever notice something off with the grail?”, he asked.

Shirou nodded. “Yeah… something to do with the third war’s Avenger? Either way, it ended with Saber destroying the grail, and eventually Zelretch purifying the grail, so now we don’t have to worry about dealing with the tainted version. This grail is the grail as it should’ve been.”

The Magus Killer sighed. “That’s good… and what about a girl named Illya?”

His son froze at that. “...Dead,” he whispered. “I couldn’t save her… I’m sorry.”

Kiritsugu closed his eyes. He just needed to know. “...It’s okay.”

Shirou nodded, looking at his father. “So then, what class did I summon you as?”

“Assassin,” he admitted. “Yeah, despite being a magus myself, I’m more known for killing them, so it figures that this would be my class… what confuses me more, is how I’ve even been summoned in the first place. I didn’t think I would be recorded on the throne of heroes…”

“Neither did I,” the silver haired magus admitted. “I almost thought I’d be summoning Saber again…”

“How was she, by the way? During your war?”, he asked, curious more for his son’s opinion. He knew that he himself wasn’t the best master back in the fourth war…

“Upset about how you handled things,” the Sword revealed to him. “But we got along well enough. I owe her my life many times over… I ended up losing her though, thanks to Caster severing the bond and stealing the command seals. Rin’s Servant had willingly severed the contract as well, but Rin formed a new contract with Saber, and she was able to stick around to help us face off against the Grail…” 

Kiritsugu nodded. “Fair… Avalon serve you well?”

“Yeah, that came into play. It saved me during my final fight with Archer.”

He shook his head. “Fighting Servants… you’re reckless.”

“I’m just unique,” the faker disagreed. “I can’t fight every servant out there, but there are some specific servants I can fight. Those who like me are exceptions to rules…”

Kiritsugu sighed. “So then what’s the game plan?”

Shirou grinned, confidence brimming. “Simple. Step one, find the masters.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirou has already summoned. It's time to meet the rest of the cast.

Rel Ashikage finished drawing the necessary seal upon the floor of her workshop, having already set a few runes to keep her privacy as she did so. Her burnt hazel eyes fell upon the command seals etched into her right hand, driving her to finish the night’s activities. She had originally come to America to spend some time away from the Moonlit World, but with these marks… perhaps, she’d finally put an end to her work, if she won. 

She stood up, feeling her jeans pull a bit on her as she stood up in her ankle boots. The Enforcer took a moment to adjust her creme blouse and navy blazer, before tying back her hair with a lavender ribbon. She sighed softly, having to do it over as a few copper strands fell in her eyes.”Right then… here’s hoping this works…” She held out her right hand, ready.

* * *

 

Nakamura Kinako smiled gently, before pulling her face back into a more neutral look. Using her father’s notes, she had recreated the circle used in summoning a servant. She could read it over, seeing how each element played into the summoning. While a few thoughts on how alterations could be made ran through her head, she decided against it. This was proven to work as is, after all.

A sudden thought struck her. Her cousin, Lucretia… She’d probably be summoning about now as well. The only master she knew about heading into this war, and as far as she was aware, probably her strongest competition. Making sure her raven hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, her obsidian eyes focused on the task at hand.

* * *

 

Alice Faust smirked as she finished her circle. This would be the first step in proving to Richard, to  _ everyone _ , that she was superior, especially compared to someone like him. She brushed her blonde hair out of her emerald eyes, reading over the circle once more, before getting back up from where she was kneeling. She had tossed her pumps aside for now, only her black stockings separating her feet from the bare floor. 

Wearing a black skirt and a fitting button up white blouse, the actress mage grinned. “Finally. Time to start my path…” She held out her hand. “Nothing will stop me….”

* * *

 

Kašpar Samuel Lansky, as opposed to his contemporaries, was outside, in the woods. Atypical for his usual methods, but given he was attempting to summon Berserker, he had no desire to have his soon to be newest familiar destroy all his hard work. The only downside in his mind was how it would dirty his custom made replica of a Czech Army dress uniform. Still, at least the hat kept the few bangs of his dirty blond hair out of his gray eyes. 

“Ready to begin?”, he heard behind him. He looked and saw one of his trusty familiars, Harx. Made intelligent through the use of his Sorcery Trait, Transference of Intelligence, it was a black raven given the head and tail of a serpent. 

Samuel nodded. “Of course. To gain more knowledge of the pinnacle of Familiars… this war will teach me much.” He smirked, holding his hand out.

* * *

 

Lucretia Harrison’s mind was elsewhere as she finished her own summoning circle. She was focused on her plans for the upcoming war instead, the prep work for the ritual coming second nature. As she finished up, she didn’t really bother with trying to fix her golden hair, already pulled back into twin tails laying down her back. She had more important things to worry about.

Blood amber eyes looked over her circle one last time, before running over what opponents she knew. Her cousin Kinako was confirmed as one, and her sources at the Clock Tower said that Shirou Emiya, a survivor of the last war, would be participating. That second one was worrisome. Despite his low talent for Magecraft, reports had him successful on every Dead Apostle Elimination mission he had taken as a Freelancer. She understood full well choosing practicality though… and to have survived a Grail War, well… Waver Velvet was an example of how far those people could go. She couldn’t underestimate him.

With that last thought, she held out her hand.

* * *

 

Marcela Arias couldn’t help herself as she stared at the circle before her. She chuckled as she finished drawing up the circles with a… unique, twist to it. Hands ran through her chocolate hair, using one of the many hand woven bracelets on her wrists to help tie it back in a loose manner. Her slate eyes moved towards a nearby mirror, doing this in an abandoned warehouse. Brown cargo pants held by a studded belt. A black tank top topped by her signature black bandanna, tied around her neck. A hand gently ran down the scar running from her left ear, along her jaw to her chin. 

This was her chance. She knew the risks… but this was her only hope. If she didn’t win, she might as well give up on her dreams, and that was a fate worse than death to her. She held out her hand. “Win or lose… this is the beginning of the end.”

* * *

 

Marcus Geminia couldn’t wipe the smirk off his face. He had spent his life doing whatever he wished. Good? Evil? It didn’t matter, as long as it was his whim, he did it. At 56, he could feel that his time was coming nearer to its end. Call it instinct, but if the Jester of the Damned was gonna go out, he was gonna go out having fun! 

Running a gloved hand through his graying walnut hair, he was dressed in his black tie best. Standing up and looking with his mismatched brown eyes, one lighter than the other, he ensured his circle was ready, before holding out his hand to the circle. “Time for the party of a lifetime!”

* * *

 

"Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let red be the colour I pay tribute to,” Alice started her chant.

* * *

“Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.” The wind picked up, causing Rel to be glad she had tied her hair back.

* * *

“I hereby declare. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be your sword.” Marcus grinned. This would be like nothing else!

* * *

“Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then answer! An oath shall be sworn here!” Kinako pressed on.

* * *

“I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell!” Marcela felt the ritual nearing completion. She couldn’t help the smile that claimed her face.

* * *

“Yet, thou serves with thine eyes clouded in chaos. Thou, bound in the cage of madness. I am he who command those chains.” Samuel would have the strongest servant, and grant it intelligence beyond its own.

* * *

“From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, Come forth from the ring of restraints, Protector of the Holy Balance!" Lucretia’s hand burned as the command seals etched themselves into her flesh. 

* * *

Seven calls to the grail were made. But there was already one servant. Seven calls for six slots…

Zelretch grinned as he witnessed the events of this particular moment. He had already accounted for as much while repairing the Greater Grail. Unknown to anyone else, he had messed with the summoning practices of the Grail, as well as ensuring which servants would be summoned to what class. Throwing in an extra servant or two? Well, that would just cause this experiment to be more exciting. 

Seven master called to six slots. Eight Servants answered the call.

* * *

Before Rel, kneeled a giant of a man, and his standing up showed just how much. Compared to her five feet five inches, he was just short of seven. With bronze armor and fur-fringed cuffs and greaves, his muscular body was topped with a matt of blazing red hair, and his chiseled chin was draped in a matching beard. He laughed boisterously as he looked over the young Enforcer. “Greetings, I am Servant Rider! Tell me…”

* * *

Standing now before Kinako was a golden man. Hair of woven sun, eyes a deep ruby, he wore loose red bottoms, accented by blue and green and held by a golden waist ornament. Golden shoes adorned his feet, and a headdress sat on the crown of his head. A short sleeveless garment was worn on his torso, chained to a hold neck ornament. His right hand similarly was wrapped in a golden gauntlet. “Greetings. You have been blessed to summon me, Caster. Tell me, Mongrel…”

* * *

Alice stared at the figure who kneeled before her. They were short in stature, wearing thick silver and red armor. A horned helmet was present, obscuring their face. “Hey there, I’m servant Saber!”, they started, helmet pulling back to show a youthful, feminine face with blonde hair and green eyes. “Tell me…”

* * *

Samuel grinned as he looked upon his servant. A black giant standing over eight feet tall, his servant only wore a battle skirt. He grinned, placing his hand against the rock like servant. A simple chant he had used time after time, and the transference of intelligence had been achieved. “There we go…”, he said. 

Indeed, Berserker seemed to have a spark of mind for once. “Interesting… To be able to speak in this class….I am servant Berserker,” he said in a low tone. “Tell me…”

* * *

Lucretia looked over the andogynus… teen(?) that had appeared before her. Dressed simply in a loose, long tunic and pants that hid their form well, they had long green hair and grey eyes sitting over a serene smile. “Hello, I am Servant Lancer. I have started up at your call. Tell me...”

* * *

Marcus frowned gently as he looked at his servant. He seemed to be a bit of a stick in the mud, which was unfortunate. The servant was kneeling, dressed in jeans and a shirt. Pretty, simple, all things considered. It was the expression on the red head’s face that showed he didn’t seem to be that much fun. “So, you’re my servant, huh? Well, I guess I’ll make due… we’ll be causing a lot of havoc, eh?”

He didn’t have a chance to react to the black sword that descended upon him.

* * *

The servant sighed, breathing softly. He had just killed the man who had summoned him. Havoc? How insulting. He might not consider himself a hero, but even he wasn’t going to let someone indulge in wanton behaviour with regard to the Holy Grail War. He stiffened though, noticing someone else there. “Who are you?”

The hidden man smiled. “Well, I guess you could consider me a friend. You need someone to maintain your mana, and I need help with investigating something.”

The man frowned, racking memories from within, before nodding. “Very well. I am servant Archer. I guess I should ask...”

* * *

“A shadow?”, Marcela asked softly. And indeed, she had summoned a shadow. A humanoid one, at least. That was before it compressed, gaining color as it took a much more human form. He had dark skin, wearing a red fundoshi with a red tattered cloth over it. A similarly red cloth held up his black hair, keeping it out of his yellow eyes. Black bandages wrapped around arms and legs, closer to the hands and feet. 

The man smirked, standing up and giving a careless grin. “Thanks for this… I am Servant Avenger. Tell me…”

* * *

“...are you my master?”

* * *

At the same time, another servant woke up, looking around as they assimilated the information from the Grail. Their class was Ruler… but how were they a Ruler? This wasn’t a Greater war… and they certainly had a wish. But… given the year, maybe they didn’t need the Grail to get their wish. But that would have to wait. They had a war to watch over.

And so the Once and Future King strode forth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took longer than I wanted. Right then, so this is more of a cast announcement chapter, as you can see, but I tried to get a bit of each character in their brief moment. Below I'll include a list of Masters and Confirmable Servants. If it seems like my servants are picked somewhat conviently... well, there's a reason XD
> 
> Right now I'm working without a laptop of my own, so updates will be sketch at best, until I can get one of my own again. Until then though, I'll work whenever I get time to actually borrow one and write. In the meantime, you can find me on Discord in this story's official server! Feel free to swing on by! YaJ8Pzr is the server code, just plug it in to the "Add a Server" area. See you there!
> 
> Servants and Masters
> 
> Saber: Mordred | Master: Alice Faust (Zeozio/Obelac)
> 
> Archer: ^$(#&^ | 1st Master: Marcus Geminia (Wickerbot) | 2nd Master: ^(*&#*^
> 
> Lancer: Enkidu | Master: Lucretia Harrison (Hofund)
> 
> Rider: Iskandar | Master: Rel Ashikage (WrittenWhim)
> 
> Caster: Gilgamesh | Master: Nakamura Kinako (Hofund)
> 
> Berserker: Heracles | Master: Kašpar Samuel Lansky (Nemris)
> 
> Assassin: Kiritsugu Emiya | Master: Shirou Emiya (UBW)
> 
> Avenger: Angra Mainyu | Master: Marcela Arias (Ziggymia123)
> 
> Ruler: The Once and Future King.

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy howdy! So, my first SYOC. Having to cross post this one since it's easier to accept characters on FF than here on AO3.
> 
> So then, background information: This is following the UBW route, based more on the Ufotable adaptation than the visual novel. As stated in the story, Zelretch has overseen the purging and repair of the Greater Grail, and those working with him have seen to the creation of an inanimate Lesser Grail that will hold steady. This takes place approximately a decade after the fifth war, thanks to a helping of the second magic to charge it, and is hosted in Washington D.C., because I’m familiar with the layout of there best, and the added security of the city will add an extra challenge for the magi participating. 
> 
> As you can see, Shirou has summoned Kiritsugu as Assassin. This is not Counter Guardian EMIYA (Assassin) from F/GO, but he is similar in statistics and skills, adjusted for his changed history. Why he can be summoned will be explored, I promise, but assume Zelretch for now.
> 
> Now here’s the ground rules for this story:
> 
> -I’m looking for MASTERS ONLY. Six, specifically. I will not be accepting servant forms. That being said, there is an optional spot on the form for a preferred Servant Class.
> 
> -There are no age, gender, or nationality restrictions on any character. 
> 
> -Please no Mary/Gary Sues. Nobody is perfect, and everyone falters at some point.
> 
> -The more detail you include, the more likely the character in story (if accepted) will be close to how they formed in your head.
> 
> -Please send this form through PM on Fanfiction, with the subject “F/AS:A Master Form”
> 
> -The tentative deadline is going to be May 21st, 2019. 
> 
> -The Form is on my FF profile! (Allen ux Ultor, just like the psuedonym I'm using here)
> 
> Feel free to contact me with any questions. I honestly can’t wait to show you what is in store~
> 
> Saber: *** | Master: ___  
> Archer: *** | Master: ___  
> Lancer: *** | Master: ___  
> Rider: *** | Master: ___  
> Berserker: *** | Master: ___  
> Caster: *** | Master: ___  
> Assassin: Kiritsugu Emiya | Master: Shirou Emiya (UBW)


End file.
